Courtesy of FAB Gallery

Objects Of Our Affection | These furniture pieces are among the highlights of FAB Gallery’s Design Plays Well With Others show.

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FAB Gallery

This week, Jill and Mandy cross the river to the University of Alberta, where FAB Gallery awaits with the exhibition of the recent graduating class of Bachelor of Design students, entitled Design Plays Well With Others.

Jill: I’m not much of a design expert ... but I have a feeling there’s some pretty refined stuff going on in this exhibit. This year’s graduating class has toiled away many a sleepless night to create a comprehensive collection of everything they’ve done over the past four years.

Mandy: I remember the build-up to the final graduation exhibition ... and oh man, so many nights of no-sleep. It’s amazing that people from any program of study make it out alive. Equally amazing is that actual coherent, beautiful, and humourous design work has been produced and displayed. Madame Jill, did you have any favourites from this somewhat overstuffed exhibition?

Jill: There were definitely some pieces that stood out for me. I was immediately drawn to “The S Word,” a collaborative effort from Alaine Mackenzie, Claire Ligget, Kim Sparks, and Mark Shuya. (The “S” word, if you’re wondering, is sustainability.) The projects in this grouping all have dual uses (e.g., envelope and brochure) and ask such questions such, “Do you really need so much ink?” These are important issues in our world, obviously, and I’m glad these students are at least considering them. I just wonder: is the fact that the projects appeared to use just as much ink as a normal project meant to be ironic?

Mandy: Ha, I’m sure I have no idea. I don’t know if this is just my own hangup, but I thought there was way too much “poster” work on display. I understand that this is kind of necessary, as there is not enough room in the gallery to display all the physical work the artists created, but Holy Visual Overdrive! I definitely prefer experiencing the results of all that creative energy first hand. As a design layman, some of the furniture pieces also impressed me, just as beautiful objects.

Jill: I agree with you — there are some really lovely three-dimensional pieces in the show. I also have to say, there’s an impressive number of super-creative and well-done books here too. I am a huge fan of books in all their forms, and I think the grad class has come up with some very intriguing creations. I was less than excited, however, by the fact that I couldn’t look through them! I mean, I understand that “This is a gallery” and all that, but isn’t the ultimate point of book design the tactile experience of picking it up and paging through it? As designs and mock-ups (and not necessarily archival “art objects”), I was kind of hoping for them to be a little bit less precious.

Mandy: In my secret dream life, I am a designer of book jackets. How a book looks is so important; it affects the whole tone of its relationship with the reader. So it’s sad that we were unable to manhandle the displayed pieces, but come on ... they would have been destroyed for sure. Or just mildly damaged. Either way, you wouldn’t want people rubbing their fingers all over your prints, would you? I suspect it would be different if there existed many copies, but most likely these are one-offs.

Jill: I understand that, but books are meant to be ... well ... books! I’m just saying, I would’ve liked to check out the insides! Anyway, my snoopy impulses aside, I thought the show was pretty interesting. You can feel these people in their objects, and as designers, I think that’s pretty important. I couldn’t help but think that objects such as Collin Hnetka’s “Tisshoe Box” and Rachelle Harvey’s “The Perils of Design School” indicate that these grads have acquired just the right amount of crazy from being in school and are ready to go.

Mandy: “Just the right amount of crazy”: it’s something that cannot be taught, but can only be acquired through massive caffeine ingestion and a dangerous amount of sleep deprivation. Now here’s your degree ... good luck.